Wilmington named best U.S. city for horror movie fans in new study
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Just in time for Halloween, Wilmington has earned the top spot in a new national ranking of the best U.S. cities for horror movie fans.
A study released by travel technology company Holafly ranked Wilmington No. 1 among 25 American cities based on horror movie filming history, online search interest, ghost tours and filming locations accessible to visitors.
Wilmington received an overall score of 67.9 out of 100, ahead of New Orleans, Louisiana, which ranked second with 61.5 points.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, placed third, followed by Salt Lake City, Utah, and Los Angeles, California.
According to the study, Wilmington has been used as a filming location for 24.4 horror movies per 100,000 residents, the second-highest rate among the cities examined.
The city also ranked highest for popular horror movies filmed per capita, with 5.5 titles per 100,000 residents.
Holafly highlighted Wilmington’s connections to horror films including “The Conjuring,” “The Black Phone” and “The Crow.”
The study also found Wilmington had the highest monthly search demand for horror filming locations relative to its population, with 181.38 searches per 100,000 residents.
Wilmington recorded 4.7 ghost tours per 100,000 residents, another factor included in the rankings.
Despite its top overall ranking, Wilmington received a score of zero for filming locations open to travelers from its three most-rated horror movies.
Top 10 cities for horror movie fans
According to Holafly, the highest-ranked cities and their overall scores were:
- Wilmington, North Carolina — 67.9
- New Orleans, Louisiana — 61.5
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — 47.4
- Salt Lake City, Utah — 46.1
- Los Angeles, California — 45.5
- Atlanta, Georgia — 44.5
- Mobile, Alabama — 29.0
- Cincinnati, Ohio — 28.8
- Santa Rosa, California — 27.0
- Long Beach, California — 25.1
How the cities were ranked
Holafly identified 25 U.S. cities with the most horror movie filming credits using location data from Wikidata.
Researchers evaluated the cities using five weighted categories: the number of horror movies filmed locally, the number of popular horror films shot there, accessible filming locations, online search demand and available ghost tours.
The study included films with at least 1,000 IMDb user ratings, while its category for iconic horror movies required at least 50,000 ratings.
The number of films, ghost tours and online searches was adjusted for population using 2025 U.S. Census Bureau figures.
Data for the study was collected Oct. 14, 2026.
The findings are based on Holafly’s own ranking methodology rather than an official tourism or film industry designation.
